Admirable convictions
Like fresh air gusts in the excoriating heat of so many summer deaths stemming from a mismanaged pandemic are individual actions and wisdom by men and women who never get into the history books.
Such a man is LA Mumar, the elder half-brother of rising political star Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto.
Mr. Mumar deserves our appreciation. The virtuosity of his convictions decidedly acts as a hygienic balm to the utter shamelessness of entitled officialdom stamping their jackboots on our perilous days.
This week, Mr. Mumar was asked why he and his wife weren’t yet vaccinated when his brother is the mayor of his city.
In refreshing sincerity, Mr. Mumar responds: “I rarely post anything political but to all of you asking or wondering why my wife and I have not been vaccinated yet since my brother is the Mayor (?). My mom didn’t skip the line, Vico didn’t skip the line, why would I?”
Elaborating further, Mr. Mumar says, “Sabi, ok lang ‘yan kasi (It is said it is ok since) life and death daw? So what? Shouldn’t we hold on to our values more, when things are difficult? What will I tell my children? It’s ok to do something illegal because it’s convenient?”
Mr. Mumar, however, still isn’t finished. He tells us “my three boys are watching me, people around are watching and most importantly, God is, too. I’m not a mayor like my bro, but we can do our part and choose what is right. One person, one family at a time. There is hope for our country!!!”
Striking indeed are the enlightened convictions of the young coach of a women’s varsity basketball team of a major university. His thoughts have been reported by news media and wildly shared on social media, garnering praise all around.
So, Mr. Mumar has struck a chord, affording him the status of more than just a passing footnote in these dystopian days.
More importantly, however, when Mr. Mumar reminds us to hold on to our values, he also gives us the best way on how we are to respond to these terrible days — it is to keep our individual consciences intact.
By not forgetting our individual consciences and values we do not become powerless.
Many a cynic have scathingly told us that by habit, confusion, distraction, self-interest, fear, rationalization and a sense of personal powerlessness, we did allow terrible things in this pandemic.
Yet, despite all the euthanizing lies spewed by the fake opinion system of paid trolls, the institutionalized manipulation of soft power, and the narcotic effect of consensus, it is a relief to find our individual consciences, as proven by Mr. Mumar, have remained inviolable.
In truth, our individual consciences are the ultimate safeguard against all the terrible things in this pandemic, particularly those sleight-of-hand machinations by an aspiring authoritarian and his wolfish hordes.
Thus, Mr. Mumar is a marker of sorts about our present moment, telling we are not catatonic and that we and our values have remained steadfast against the onslaught of spectacularly flagrant instances of lying in our public discourse.
The sheer force of our individual consciences cannot be belittled.
Our personal individual decision to speak out leads to a cascade of other individual decisions. Before long, the rest of the Filipino population makes their own decisions unconsciously as we have.
In short, by our personal example, much as what Mr. Mumar did sets off welcome consequences among our fellows.
“Shouldn’t we hold on to our values more, when things are difficult? What will I tell my children?
It is a common fact that people’s judgments about an action or a situation are often a product of what else they see.
If we are surrounded by brutality, a little cruelty might not much bother us.
If we live in a society in which officials routinely steal public money for their own use, we might not mind so much if an official asks for a little bribe in exchange for letting us open a small business.
Standing our ground, therefore, on what is right provides the background by which many others will make judgments about the most fundamental moral, political, and legal questions.
As such, making an individual conscience stand against parasitic entitlement isn’t just our individual antidote against obnoxious behavior of those in power, but is also a powerful vaccine for our forsaken society.
“In truth, our individual consciences are the ultimate safeguard against all the terrible things in this pandemic.